All week there is nothing but talk about how broken the catch rule is. You know what is broken? The Pro Bowl. Need a reason? Cameron Heyward.
At first, you sit back and think about it and say, what is the point of arguing about the Pro Bowl? A game that some thought used to mean something is a charade now as the 11th best quarterback in each conference finds his way onto the team.
Still, this means something to these players. Mainly aside from those glamorous positions, it matters. In terms of contract negotiations, endorsements, name recognition, and even the Hall of Fame, Pro Bowls tend to come up. You can either make the boring argument saying that the Pro Bowl should not matter in those situations or you can defend Cameron Heyward for an honor he deserves. Let’s go with the latter.
Cameron Heyward deserves to make a Pro Bowl. There is no doubt about it. The only problem is, his defense runs a scheme that not as many teams run. Cameron Heyward is a defensive end. So no, he does not have the sacks to beat Joey Bosa, Khalil Mack or Calais Campbell. However, he is not a similar player in any way. Heyward lines up against guards and centers. Campbell can slide inside at times, but their work is mainly done against tackles.
All three of those teams run a 4-3 defense while the Steelers run a 3-4. The 4-3 highlights the line, the 3-4 highlights linebackers. They are asked to do completely different things.
In sacks, Cameron Heyward is top ten. In tackles for loss, Cameron Heyward is top ten. Combining sacks and tackles for loss there are eight players with more than Cameron Heyward.
Chandler Jones, Calais Campbell, Demarcus Lawrence, Everson Griffen, Von Miller, Justin Houston, Aaron Donald, Jadeveon Clowney had more and he is in a tie with Cameron Jordan. Of the eight other players Heyward is listed with four are in the AFC, one is a defensive lineman and none run the 3-4 defense.
He is the best player at his particular position and he is not an initial Pro Bowl player. Ok.
The fact of the matter is that statistics aside, the eye test can tell you that Cameron Heyward is a Pro Bowl player.
Would Jeremey Vujnovich, the Indianapolis Colts left guard say Cameron Heyward is a Pro Bowler?
Taylor Lewan made the Pro Bowl. That did not stop Cameron Heyward from pushing him aside as he captured his quarterback.
Even the great one, Tom Brady, felt the wrath of the best 3-4 defensive end in the NFL with just Joe Thuney standing in his way.
He has the stats to be upper echelon as a pass rusher and run stuffer and the tape of a player who changes games for his team. Thinking that Heyward is not not on the initial Pro Bowl team is why the honor is dying and losing attention. Until the Pro Bowl at least understands how defense works, it needs to be a completely invalid argument moving forward. We will see if it continues to affect the judgment of some owners in free agency.